Belarus strongman looks to open ‘new chapter’ in rare talks with US

MINSK: Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (L) speaks with US National Security Advisor John Bolton during their meeting. – AFP

MINSK: Belarus’s
strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko said yesterday he was looking to open a
“new chapter” in ties with Washington as he welcomed the White House
national security advisor for rare talks in Minsk. Lukashenko met with John
Bolton as the aide to President Donald Trump continued his tour of ex-Soviet
countries that was sure to ruffle feathers in Moscow. The Belarusian president, a crucial ally of
Russia’s Vladimir Putin, said he hoped the visit would mark a turning point
after years of distrust.

“Since the
start of the deterioration of our relations with the United States, we have
constantly proposed turning this bad page and opening a new chapter in our
relations,” Lukashenko said. He said Bolton’s visit would help
“create the foundation for future relations” and that he hoped for
“frank” discussions on “all issues”. “History is
moving forward,” the Belarusian presidency quoted Bolton as saying.
“A lot of time has passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the
geopolitical situation has changed.”

The US embassy in
Minsk said earlier that Bolton would “discuss regional security and
emphasize US support for Belarus’s sovereignty and independence” during
the talks often dubbed “Europe’s last dictatorship”, Belarus has been
largely isolated by the international community, though Russia remains a close
ally. Speculation has swirled for years of unification with Russia, in
particular as a way for Putin to circumvent Russia’s constitutional term
limits.

Lukashenko, a
Soviet-era collective farm chief who become Belarus’s first post-independence
president, has often pushed back, saying earlier this year that 98 percent of
his citizens oppose unification with Russia. Belarus was long subject to
Western sanctions over the country’s poor rights record and lack of fair
elections.

Russian ‘weak
spots’

In 2016 the US
eased its sanctions, saying this opened the door to “expanded commercial
ties”. The European Union meanwhile dropped its sanctions in what it said
was a bid to encourage progress on human rights. But the Belarusian authorities
have ramped up efforts to control media since anti-government demonstrations in
2017, with independent journalists and activists facing pressure and
harassment.

Bolton’s visit to
Minsk comes after a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev
on Wednesday. The US advisor stressed
Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” in the face of its conflict with Moscow-backed
separatists in the country’s east. Earlier yesterday Bolton met with the
president and prime minister of Moldova, where he said the US would continue
working with the former Soviet republic in defense and the economy.

Moldova recently
formed a new government made up of an unusual coalition of pro-European and
pro-Russian forces, following months of political turmoil. “We discussed a
wide range of questions relating to bilateral ties, and noted how these had
strengthened after a peaceful transfer of power in June this year,”
Moldovan President Igor Dodon said. Analysts said Bolton’s trip was aimed at
probing for “weak spots” on Russia’s borders. “The United States
is likely to search for openings to increase its influence in Ukraine, Belarus
and Moldova,” US geopolitical think tank Stratfor said.

It was the
highest-ranking US visit to Belarus in two decades, Stratfor said. The last US
ambassador to Minsk left the country in 2008 in a spat over sanctions. “While Belarus remains firmly within
Russia’s orbit, the countries’ recent spats over oil supplies may have created
an opening for the United States to attempt to expand economic and energy
ties,” Stratfor added. – AFP